Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-03-30
REALITY OF THE SEA SERPENT
Nichard A. Proctor Discusses the
Probability of Its Existence.


pent is what Mr.. Richard A. Proctor,
with his accustomed versatility, under
taxes to prove IN his article on "The
Reality OF Sea Serpents,n published in the
April number of The Forum. Mr.. Proc
TOR states his question thus: 'Among the
various accounts of strange sea mon
sters, serpentine in appearance, which
nave been published at different times,
may we regard any as relating to real
sea creatures, as yet not classified
(posslbly belonging to several
classes), or must we reject all,
some as mere fabrications, others as
resulting from various forms of op-
teal illusion, and the rest as real Obser-
vations OF sea creatures already known
TO science, but unfamiliar 10 the obserY-
ers, and therefore ineXactly described,
and perhaps partly metamOrphOsed
through the effects Of Inauguration into
the semblance Of the famed sea serpenJr'
Some OF the accounts of sea serpents,
Mr.. Proctor decides that we may regard
as relating to real creatures, the cases
which he admits being those relating To
creatures which were seen close at hand
ana could be described, even though for
want OF scientific knowledge the descrip-
tiOn may be imperfect. He cites as the
first sea serpent story coming within the
cial report made by tAe Captain of the
british government snip (vulgarly
called 'her maiesty's ship D9dalus, in
lS4S."
AT p. m, Aug. s, in latitude 24:44
south, longitude 9:22 east, the weather
dark and cloudy, wind fresh from the
northwest, with a long ocean swell from
the southwest, the snip heading north
east by north, something very unusual
was seen by Mr.. SartorIs, midshipman,
rapidly approaching the ship from before
the beam. The circumstance was lmme.
dately reported by him to the officer OF
the watch, Lieut.. Drumm0nd, with whom
and Mr.. William Barrett, the master, |
was at the time walking the quarter deck.
On our attention being called to the OBJ
Ject, 1t was discovered to be an enormous
serpent a student of science would not
have discovered this quite so readily /,
with head and shoulders kept about four
feet constantly above the surface OF
the sea; and, as nearly as we could APP
proXimate by comparing it with the
length OF what our maintOpsail yard
would show in the water, there WAS at
least sixty feet OF the animal tieur d'eau,
no portion of which was, in our percep-
ton, used in prOpelling it through the
water, either by vertical or horizontal I'M
dulatiOn. 1t passed rapidly. but SO closely
under our lee quarter that had 1t been a
man OF my acquaintance | should easily
have recognized his features with the
naked eve, and 1t did not, either in APP
pToaching the ship or after 1t mad passed
our wake, devlate in the slightest degree
from its course to the south west, which
1t held on at Inc pace of from II to 10 miles
an hour, apparently on some determined
purpose. The diameter OF the serpent
was about fifteen or sixteen inches behind
the head, which was undOu btedIy that OF
snake; and it was never, during the
twenty minutes it continued in sight OF
our glasses, once below the surface the
water. Its color, dark brown, with yell
lOwish white.abOut the throat. 1t had n o
fms, but something like the name of q
morse. or, rather, a bunch OF seaweed,
washed about its back. 1t was seen by
the quartermaster, the boatswain's mate
aud the man at the wheel, IN addition to
myself and off GERS above mentioned"
line respectful attention paid to this
story, says MIR. Proctor, called forth
several other accounts OF sea seTpents;
one of them he quotes 1t relates how the
American brig Daphne, on Sept. 20, 1913,
sighted ''mOst extraordinary animal.
having the appearance ot huge serpent
with "a dragons mead.
zone of the deck guns was Immediately
brought to bear on 1t, which, having been
charged with spike nails and whatever
other pieces OF iron could be got at the
moment, was discharged at the animal,
ihen only ABOUT forty yards distant from
the ship. 1t Immediately reared its head
in the air ana plunged violently with its
body, showing that the charge Dad taken
effect. The Daphne then Stood toward
the brute, which was seen foaming and
lashin2 the water at a fearful rate. Upon
hri, =
ed, ami though evidently wou nded, made
rapidly OIL at the rate of fifteen or sixteen
knots an hour, as was Judged from its APP
pearing several times upon the surface.
From the description OF the mate, the
brute must have been nearly 100 feet
long, and his account OF It agrees in every
respect with that lately forwarded 10 the
Admiralty by the master Of the Dedalus."
Mr.. Proctor decides that none OF the
stories he has considered can be explained
by the suppositi0n that the creatures seen
were very large specimens OF the basking
shark, or large seals, or even ribbon fish.
His conclusion is:
The absence of all trace Of lesiosauri
after the Cretace0us period may readily be
explained without assuming that all the
various orders had died out. Changes Of
habits and of habitat, with consequent al
teration OF the conditions under which
Jle remains OF buCu creatures were pre-
served, or, indeed, alterations of these
conditions Independently of any great
change in the habits the various orders
OF plesiosauri, may quite reasonably be
regarded as affOrding the true eXpiaua-
ton of their archaeological disappear.
ance. We may derive an analogous argu.
ment from the displacement OF the great
marine saurians by tDe' cetaasass
Where are the fossil remain1eG0et15-ssfS ~
cestral cetacean forms connecting the
present cetaceans with the porcine land
creatures from which they descendedi
Myriads OF creatures belonging To those
ancestral forms must have existed, Yet
no traces of them remain, though prob.
ably the conditions under which they eX-
listed, amphi hOus as they must long have
been, were such as to give them fair
chance Of occasional preservation in mud
banks or sand strata. Possibly the same
changes which made marine conditions
favorable for the land ancestors OF tne
cetaceans may have driven the
plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs
into deeper seas, there 10
undergo such changes as the changed en-
yironment required. In such oaseslt has
frequently happened that species have
diminished greatly in numbers, while the
Individual representatives. Of the race
have developed largely in size. IL is not
necessary, however, Tor our laith IN the
reality OF the so.oallcd sea serpent that
we should prove the creature TO be be.
yond doubt a large enallosaur To lind
out what the creature IS, or 10 what AS